Dante's Paradiso

Dante's Paradiso is the third cantica in the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. It tells of Dante's journey through Heaven, with Beatrice as his guide, until he eventually reaches the edge of time and sees God Himself.

Heaven is made up of nine spheres, corresponding to the heavenly bodies visible from Earth that were known in Dante's time. Dante meets the souls of the dead in each sphere, organised according to the good works they did while on Earth. Dante questions Beatrice on what he sees and is questioned by the inhabitants of Heaven as well. The nine levels of Heaven correspond to the Ptolemaic view of the planets' rotation around the Earth, and in each one Dante is shown a different category of souls:

Sphere	Souls
Moon	Those who broke vows
Mercury	Those who did good for personal glory
Venus	Those who did good because of love
Sun	Philosophers
Mars	The Church Militant
Jupiter	Great rulers
Saturn	Contemplatives
Fixed Stars	The Church Triumphant
Crystalline Heaven or Primum Mobile	Angels

Beyond these spheres (and outside time itself) are:

• The motionless Heaven (or Empyrean)
• Mary’s throne
• 9 angelic circles
• God’s throne with the elders

Dante's allusions are again rooted in Greek and Roman mythology which he relates to Christian virtues and doctrines, symbols from astrology, Biblical history, Church teaching, and honored political figures. The high position of Mary is emphasized as it was the prevailing belief of the time.

The Paradiso ends when Dante sees God. He tries to describe what he has seen, but admits defeat as his poetic gifts fail in their attempt to give form to the ineffable. The reader can only assume that the poet was somehow returned to Earth, and given the task of returning to life and writing down what he has seen for the benefit of those still living. Dante equates this purpose to that of the man the Apostle Paul wrote about who ascended to the 3rd Heaven in a vision, or that John the Divine wrote in the Apocalypse (Revelation).